Thread: AIR FILTER MAINTENANCE

I clean the pre filters daily or every other day depending, I wash with soap & water let them dry then re oil them. I have 2 for every machine so they dry for a day or so. <br>The paper ones I tap out then put on the bench and put the blower nozzel in the top hole and blow out back wards but not directly on the paper. I usually change them every month except during the fall when its a lot more often cause of the dust.

Hello Everybody:<p>This is a article that I posted in another forum a few months back, I hope not this one if so, Well excuse me!<p>&gt;Is it really necessary to put oil on the foam element filter that goes over the paper element filter? I would like to hear some pros and cons. Thanks.&lt;<p>If you watch after a period of time, you will notice that you get a good bit of dirt in your intake & or carb when servicing your air filter if you are not very careful. <p>There was a study did a while back & it proved that a lot of people overlook this when cleaning & servicing an air filter.<p>When ever we serviced our equipment we checked to see if any dirt did fall down in there when removing the air filter (If you can't see down in there take the time to get a flashlight & look). If we found dirt we did whatever it took to get the dirt cleaned out. <p>I found out the best thing to do was take off the air filter cover & if the intake opening was still not showing we would hold down the air filter blow off the outside area around the air filter area, then remove the air filter carefully not to spill any dirt down in the intake opening.<p>If I removed the air filter cover & intake opening was visible we would put a rag over the intake opening then blow off around the air filter area then carefully remove it.<p>Yes, you should always put about a table spoon or so of oil on the pre cleaner, work it in real good by squeezing the pre cleaner in your hand, & then put the pre cleaner in a rag squeezeing to remove the excess oil so then you will not have excess oil on the pre cleaner that could reduce the life of your air filter. Always buy OEM air filters not cheaper after market ones.<p>The pre cleaner that has been properly oiled with the excess oil removed will stop most finer dust (also larger debris that could shorten the life of you air filter), Yes the finer dust that would go through the paper filter element straight through to your carb ( causing excess throttle shaft wear, this wear alone will allow dust & dirt to enter at the throttle shaft bypassing even later a engine that has a properly serviced air filter)then into your head, valves, piston, rings, cylinder wall then into your crankcase & so on.<p>Oh, by the way take a new filter & hold it up to the light, you will notice that you can see light through it, this means if you can see light through it, very fine dust particles can also go through it too. <p>Thank God for the person that thought of the pre cleaner. Notice that most home owner engines do not have a precleaner & all I-C or commercial grade engines do have pre cleaners, this contributes to it being a commercial grade engine. Please remember to blow off very lightly the air filter from the inside out first, then lightly blow off the outside of it. Blowing to hard can damage to the pores of the paper element on the filter.<p>If I had a larger engine that had a oil filter, I would run synthetic oil in it which adds a lot of life to your engine, helps out if the engine was ran a little low on oil & helps you when you are cutting on steep slopes & not getting proper engine lubrication). <p>The air compressor is one of the greatest tools a Commercial Pro could have & a parts washer.<p>Time is Money & Money is work divided by time.<p><br><p>----------<br>GrassMaster - Home: www.lawnservicing.com<br>My Start Up Page www.lawnservicing.com/startup/